


Puddle Dancing

by stateofintegrity



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25241422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stateofintegrity/pseuds/stateofintegrity
Summary: Revelations in the rain.
Relationships: Maxwell Klinger/Charles Emerson Winchester III
Kudos: 13





	Puddle Dancing

He could ignore Klinger.

But he couldn’t ignore mascara running over his cheeks, silk-gone-see-through-in-the-rain, shuffling slowly as if unaware of the battering he was taking Klinger.

Sighing, he rummaged for an umbrella.

“Your feathers aren’t waterproof, my preposterous puddle duck.”

“Hey, Major.” The umbrella was mostly pointless now - he was soaked - but he registered the kindness just the same. Even at his worst, he never took kindness for granted. 

Charles didn’t ask him where he was going or why being pounded by cold rain had seemed preferable to anything else at 4077th. 

“That’s one of the things I like about you,” Klinger said, thoughts becoming words without the benefit of a segue. 

Charles hadn’t known there was a list.

“I can be quiet with you. I can just  _ be _ .” 

Usually, Charles would have joked with him and said that the idea of Klinger  _ being quiet _ was an absurd notion at best. 

“You never ask me to be something I can’t. Where’d you learn that, sir?”

Once, Charles would have believed that he would never ask Klinger for anything because he didn’t care enough to notice him, but they were friends now and the young man in watered silk that was becoming rather waterlogged deserved a real answer. “From Honoria, probably. She never asked me to be other than I was and she loved me in spite of it.”

“In spite?”

“Mm-hmm. I am not so easy a person to love.”

“Huh. I’ve been doing it for months without any problems. I guess I lose sleep, sometimes, but I don’t really mind.” 

Charles stopped, faced him under the dark sweep of the umbrella, the storm at his back. “Max?”

Half of Klinger’s mouth smiled. “Sorry, Major. You know me. I can’t pass up a chance.” He shrugged. “Not how I planned to tell you, though.”

A series of images passed behind the Major’s eyes: Klinger backing up out of the Swamp as he left, holding his eyes… Klinger looking to him in OR as if to anchor himself, beaming when Charles nodded to him… Klinger asleep in the scrub room, waiting to lead him back to bed.

_ You did not have to drown yourself to catch my eye _ , he wanted to tell this gentle, bedraggled thing, but he stared, wanting the sight of the other man to mark him forever. Klinger stared back, head lifted to read his eyes. 

“I’m better when you’re around, Major. I guess probably everyone is, everyone you’re near.”

This sounded patently ridiculous to the proud Major; everyone else at the 4077th had made it quite clear that he had rather the opposite function. But there was no lie in those dark eyes. “Better?” he practically whispered. 

“Like something’s protecting me.”

Charles knew exactly how frightened Klinger was to be in Korea; he’d seen him fight his way out of terror before through sheer force of will. To be the thing that made him feel safe… it was an honor that far exceeded any medal or commendation the army could grant. 

Klinger lifted a side of his dress, twisted the cloth to release the water it held. “The dresses were a joke once, Major. Or they were supposed to be. But it turns out that they’re me, too. I didn’t think they could be, not in real life, but you treat me the same no matter what, talk to me the same no matter what.”

_ You’re saying that I helped you find out who you really are? Dear one, I’ve never even held your hand!  _ He realized, then, that he could remedy that. 

Before he could reach out, Klinger took one step backward into the rain. “I hope you still will after this.”

Dropping the umbrella, Charles put a hand at his back as if to usher him through a doorway or into a dance. “I think you will find that I will treat you quite differently, Max… prior to this happy meeting in the rain, I had no inkling that you could ever be mine.”

His words had frightened his poor, damp love, but he shook with happiness as Charles finished and as he came to understand. 

“We should have gone walking in the rain a long time ago,” the surgeon said, taking his hand.

Klinger looked back at the road they’d walked, the puddles that Charles had deftly maneuvered him past as he matched his longer stride to his shorter one, as he protected him from the rain.  _ That’s never what we were doing at all, Major. We were puddle dancing. _

He would share this notion later once they were dry and warm. For now, he’d be content to stay outside for an entire rainy season, so long as those long fingers stayed twined with his.

End! 


End file.
